Correlations between the performance of older adults in conditional discrimination training and in a screening test for Alzheimer’s Disease

The prevalence of neurocognitive disorders has been rising and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common cause. Studies on conditional discrimination have contributed to understand the variables associated with the cognitive function. However, the relationship of such studies with cognitive impairment in older adults remains under-explored. This research aims to compare the performances of older adults during tasks involving conditional discrimination training with their performances on Addenbroke's Cognitive Examination, a widely used screening test for cognitive impairments. The sample was composed of 45 older adults. The participants performed a computerized task consisting on establishing arbitrary conditional relations between three pairs of stimuli. Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination was administered to assess the cognitive performance. The analysis revealed a positive correlation between the performance in conditional discrimination and in the cognitive assessment. This correlation was observed only among participants who did not reported having AD in use of anti-cholinesterase drugs (30 participants). These findings demonstrate a direct relationship between learning difficulties, when it comes to learning arbitrary conditional relations, and the occurrence of cognitive decline. Therefore, the administration of the conditional relations tasks could be useful for distinguishing older adults with and without AD. Keywords: Conditional discrimination; neuropsychological tests; elderly; Alzheimer's Disease

FORMAÇÃO DE CLASSES DE ESTÍMULOS EQUIVALENTES EM IDOSOS COM IDADE AVANÇADA

The present study evaluated empirically the formation of equivalence classes with elderly participants using the structure of “comparison-as-node” (CaN) training and the training design of the baseline conditional relations and the probe for emergent relations called “simple to complex”. Three participants aged between 76 and 83 years old were exposed to a matching to sample procedure to learn new conditional discriminations between arbitrary stimuli and then such relations were tested to check for the formation of equivalence classes. The results demonstrated that the participants learned the conditional relations, requiring on average between 4.83 and 8.37 repetitions of the baseline training blocks. All participants reached a score of more than 80% in the equivalence test. Thus it was possible to observe the emergence of equivalence classes with elderly participants using the structure of CaN training and the training design “simple to complex”. Key words: stimulus equivalence, matching to sample, equivalence class formation, elderly.O objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar empiricamente a formação de classes equivalentes com participantes com idade avançada utilizando a estrutura de treino CaN e arranjo de treinos e testes do “simples para o complexo”. Três idosos, entre 76 e 83 anos, foram expostos ao procedimento de ensino baseado em emparelhamento com o modelo com o propósito de ensinar-lhes novas discriminações condicionais entre estímulos abstratos e depois testar essas relações para averiguar a formação de classes equivalentes. Os resultados demonstraram que os participantes aprenderam as relações condicionais, requerendo um número de repetições dos blocos de treino de linha de base que variou entre 4,83 e 8,37 em média. Além disso, os três participantes apresentaram no teste de equivalência porcentagem de acertos acima de 80%. Dessa forma, foi possível observar sistematicamente a formação de classes de equivalência com participantes idosos usando a estrutura de treino CaN e o arranjo de treinos e testes do “simples para o complexo”.Palavras-chave: equivalência de estímulos, emparelhamento com o modelo, formação de classes equivalentes,idosos